Every Breath You Take
by Rena1
Summary: Naru has a problem with Mai. She has a new hobby. One that is driving him mad. Sequel to 'It's Gonna Be Me', but from Naru's point of view.


**Summary: **Naru has a problem with Mai. She has a new hobby. One that is driving him mad. Sequel to 'It's Gonna Be Me', but from Naru's point of view.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Ghost Hunt, nor the title song that was written by Sting and performed by The Police. And of course I don't own the other song that gets used in this, though I cannot tell you what it is at the moment, but just remember I don't own it.

**Author's Notes: **So I know I said that Mai's songfic was going to be a one time thing, but Naru demanded that he get his chance to have a stab at the whole "baring of feelings". He did of course scoff while saying such a thing, but he's getting his chance. You don't need to have read It's Gonna Be Me, but it will make this one make more sense if you have. I hope that you all will enjoy it!

**Every Breath You Take**

Looking back on it, he supposed that, really, he had no one to blame but himself for the predicament he was now in. He should never have encouraged his perky assistant in any way, especially not when it came to something that would so obviously-and terribly!-affect him. And it was affecting him. He couldn't seem to get away from the problem now. It followed him into his office, onto their cases. Hell, Lin had even decided to help out his new nemesis and add to his torture. The only thing that helped him get through these long, agonizing days was the constant injection of caffeine that he was swallowing down in cup after cup of tea.

Now surely, you must be asking 'what could possibly bother the great narcissist, the only one that has a glare to put Death to shame?' Well, simply put: his little cinnamon haired assistant's new hobby. And what was that? Music.

Yes, it wasn't a new boyfriend-he definitely had scared away a good few potentials-nor was it the oh so annoying habit his regular colleagues had of turning his office into a café. It was just simply that Mai had decided to take up on his advice.

Mai listening to Naru's advice, surely not, the world cannot be at an end already. But she had, and he dearly wished he had kept his mouth sealed. It had been such a small, hardly even thought through comment! He just couldn't stand to hear that nonsensical boy pop band playing any longer. How she could have thought that that racket was music was beyond him. But he should have just kept his mouth shut and endured it. Because surely, if he had, then this torment would now be at an end.

But alas, he had to open his big mouth and tell her, 'If you're going to force me to listen to American music, at least make it good'. How could he have possibly known the pain that would come out of it? Day after day, that quickly turned into weeks, of new; American, English, Swedish; music being played. Apparently it didn't matter what country she had gotten it from, just that it was in English. And any time that he opened his mouth and commented that it was distracting and quite possibly making her even more stupid than she already was, well, the pixie-like girl would simply smile innocently and say, "But Naru-chan, you told me to. And you are always complaining about how I never try to learn English. Now I am."

And to make it worse, Lin was now on her side! The man that his parents sent to help him, to assist him! He had crossed over to the other side, the traitor! And the tall Chinese man found his suffering far too amusing, snidely pointing out that having some music playing put the clients at ease.

Ha! Since when did _he _care whether or not the clients were at ease? Were not they lucky enough that he decided to accept some of their cases?

But that was wandering too far from his current displeasure. Today was another new song, one that he had to admit was not terrible… That is, if one only heard it once in a while.

His dark eyebrow twitched as the song started itself over once more.

Oh, his pretty little assistant couldn't be content to listen to many different songs. No, she insisted that she needed to learn the song before she moved onto a new one. Therefore Naru was left having to listen to the same song for hours-sometimes days!-on end.

This particular selection was just baffling to him. It wasn't even a happy song, nor one about mushy confessions of love! It was a really rather disturbing choice, he thought!

Ah, and there it starts again, just in time for him to hear it louder as his assistant walked into his office.

"Naru-chan! I brought you your tea. I figured it's been a while since you've yelled at me for some this afternoon, so you must be starting to go through withdrawal already!" She set his cup down before him and then hugged the tray to her chest, her bright brown eyes staring expectantly at him as she smiled, rocking on her heels and waiting for a response that would never pass his lips.

Oh, but bless her. Beloved tea brought to him just when he thought he might go insane! He stilled after taking a calming sip, shaking his head at himself. Clearly the music was getting to him more than he thought if he was so thankful that she was doing one of her jobs.

The petite brunette cleared her throat and he looked up, one jet brow raised in question. "Is there something you need Mai, or am I really so handsome that you can't stand to look away?"

He concealed a smirk as she bristled in anger, her nails digging into the plastic of the tray she was carrying. He certainly did enjoy pushing her buttons.

"Aren't Englishmen supposed to be well-mannered?"

"You think I am being rude?"

She rolled her eyes, "Obviously."

"Ah, how unfortunate."

She waited impatiently for him to continue, "Well?"

He smirked a bit as he watched her over the rim of his teacup as he took another long drag of his drug of choice. "You do realize that you are my assistant, correct?"

Her brow wrinkled in confusion at this, but she nodded slowly.

"Well, then there is no need for me to idly praise you simply for doing your job. Get back to work."

She stared at him open mouthed for a few minutes, before huffing angrily and beginning to storm from the room, only to stop when he called out her name and turn back to him with a furious glare.

Hmm, clearly she was learning a thing or two from him.

When he didn't speak right away she sighed deeply, "What Naru?"

"Out of purely scientific curiosity, why this song?"

The young girl blinked in surprise, her eyes widening a bit as she realized that her rather stoic boss had just asked her a question about the music that he always complained annoyed him so. "Wh-what?" Surely she had heard him wrong!

"Are you deaf as well as stupid now? I asked you why you picked this song."

Her scowl returned full force as she crossed her arms over her chest, her chin tucking stubbornly to her chest. "Not that I need to explain myself to _you_, but I happen to find this song extremely romantic. Yasu-kun explained it to me yesterday when we went out to lunch and I immediately fell in love with it."

Naru stared blankly up at her, his head tilting to the side just enough to make his messy bangs fall in front of his piercing midnight eyes, causing the young girl to flush a soft red.

She found it… Romantic?

"_This _song? You find _this _song romantic? You do realize what it is about, yes?"

Mai nodded, a small, wistful smile spreading across her lips. "I do. He's promising that he'll always love her. No matter what."

Naru fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course. She would be one of those that thought it so romantic. "You're wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"This song is in no way romantic."

"Just because you're a genius with science and most other subjects does not make you an expert on music, Naru-chan! This song _is _romantic."

"No, it's not. The writer himself even says that it is not."

Her eyes narrowed and she scowled at him, "Oh really? Then, oh wise one, enlighten me." She planted her feet firmly apart as she waited for his response.

"It's about a stalker."

"What? You can't really expect me to believe that!"

"You don't have to believe me, but I am right. Think about the lyrics and you'll see."

Her scowl deepened, "You know what Naru-chan? I think you're just jaded. I think this song is romantic and no matter what you say it won't change my mind!" That said she turned and stomped from his office, slamming the thick wooden door behind her to close the issue. Not even moments later the volume of the dreaded song increased, the books within his bookcase bouncing along to the rhythm.

Naru sighed, using his thumb and pointer finger to knead at the tension headache he felt building up behind his eyes. Was this torture never to cease?

And truly, how could she think it romantic? Even with as dense as she tended to be, the lyrics were quite obvious in their meaning.

And dear lord, now he was listening to them! Perhaps he should just grab the girl and drag her into his office to listen to him dissect it line by line to convince her!

_Every breath you take_

_Every move you make_

It would serve her right after all she had put him through during their cases. It had become a fulltime job just having to get her out of trouble. He found his eyes searching her out all too often simply because she seemed to be a magnet for danger. Even when he was not in the room with her, he would frequently check the monitors or send another with her to ensure her safety.

_Every bond you break_

_Every step you take_

And it wasn't even just spirits he had to worry about when it came to his petite assistant! She so easily became attached to all those around her. It happened all too often that he felt the urge to comfort her when they ended a case because she wouldn't get to be around her new found friends. Or the fact that she mourned the loss of everyone that they learned had been lost. It didn't matter what sort of thing the spirit tried to do to her or any of them, once the brunette found out that it had gone through some sort of suffering she gave into the need to comfort it. And damn it, that was dangerous for many reasons!

As was the fact that she was, quite possibly, the clumsiest person he had ever met. Perhaps she had done something extremely terrible in a past life that demanded punishment in this one, because whenever there was anything, _anything_, to fall down into or from, she managed it. Find a well beneath a home that no one knows about, she's inside. An abandoned manhole near a school, been there. Drop into the floor beneath a nurse's office, check.

_I'll be watching you_

And more often than not, for some unfathomable reason, he was always right behind her, shielding her and preventing her from getting herself killed.

He shoved a hand through his hair, forcing the locks into a state of chaotic disarray. Didn't she realize how dangerous most of what she did was? How much she scared the others when she got hurt, or taken? How much _he _had come to worry about her?

_Every single day_

_Every word you say_

He didn't know when, but somewhere between the first case and now he had begun to pay more attention to her than he did to the others, started to care when she was around and to care what her opinion of him was.

After he had learned of Gene's death he had shut down, not wanting anyone to get so close to him again. Gene's passing had caused him more pain than anyone could possibly know or imagine. He had lost part of himself, the only good part, on that day and he refused to lose any more pieces, even ones that were so shattered.

But this little spitfire he called his assistant had come out of nowhere and been the complete opposite of everyone else. Where everyone was taken in easily by his looks and charming demeanor, she had been suspicious of him. She was constantly questioning his motives and actions, always wanting him to do more, to give more, to be more.

_Every game you play_

It was definitely like a game to her. She danced merrily within reach of his arms, enticing his cold, deadened heart into beating and feeling, before darting just out of grasp. Perhaps it was because she was so friendly with every one of their colleagues that he felt that way, not to mention that she knew his brother as well.

She had confessed her love for him before he went back to England, but honestly why would it be him that she loved? It could only be Gene that she had such feelings for. After all he had never been extremely kind to her. And yet…

_Every night you stay_

_I'll be watching you_

And yet even when he had denied her feelings for him she refused to leave. And strangely enough, that seemed to increase his curiosity about her.

Of course it was purely scientific. For she did have gifts. Talents that seemed to increase rapidly with each case.

_Oh can't you see_

_You belong to me_

That was one of the reasons that he had come back actually. His father had threatened to send someone to study _his_ assistant and find out just how many gifts she had. He could not stand for such a thing though. _He _had found her, introduced her to the world of paranormal and he-_only he_-would be responsible for taking care of her as her powers grew at exponentially high rates. He would not let someone who knew nothing about her come in and treat her like some lab rat to be poked and prodded. He knew too well how such a thing felt, and what it did to sensitives like Mai.

_How my poor heart aches_

_With every step you take_

He had realized quite soon after meeting her that she was different, gifted. It was hard not to notice when she managed to pull the nickname Naru out of thin air. Or the way that she always seemed to know how to comfort and understand someone. She had reminded him too much of Gene. It had been physically painful to watch her walk away from him after that first case, and he knew then that he needed to look after her.

_Every move you make_

_Every vow you break_

And then it just escalated from there. She managed to get secrets, smiles and… Well just plain emotion from him when all others simply got emptiness. And she had been interesting enough at first, just enough like Gene to content him while he was in Japan searching, but not so much that he had to worry about getting attached. Of course that had changed after she broke her first promise to him. It was such a childish, silly thing to do too. He had made her look bad and so she had turned around-and in a very Gene-like fashion-had made sure that he was the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. Lin had been furious with him for that instance-he was not supposed to use his PK for any reason. But he supposed that seeing her smug, rather self-satisfied smile had been worth the hassle.

_Every smile you fake_

Because her smiles could be few and far between, or even more annoying, fake. She cared so much about the safety and feelings of others that she quite frequently put her own needs last, or not at all. And she hated making others worry about her. During many of the cases he knew that she pretended to be just fine and happy when something was bothering her. Like during the Urado case: she lived through someone else's death-something he knew from experience was extremely hard, frightening and not to mention painful-and yet she so quickly put on a façade to make the others think she was fine. Such a thing might fool them, but he knew her too well, could too easily see through her lies.

_Every claim you stake_

_I'll be watching you_

And yet she continued to feel everything so strongly, continued to take such an interest and care for everything about her. It seemed that every person she came into contact with she felt the need to draw them under her protective wing and make sure they were safe and happy. She also believed she was right about everything, so much more than she had a right to. For as much as she hated it when others made assumptions, she did so herself so easily. Though she did know enough to apologize afterwards when she realized she was wrong yet again.

_Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace_

He had thought it would be so easy to leave Japan once he found Gene's body. But almost as soon as they had landed in England he had realized that it was not so.

Who would be there to make sure that she didn't land herself in trouble? And would she be able to find another part time job that would pay her enough for her to live on? But most importantly who would make his tea? He quickly found that no one made his tea the way that Mai did.

_I dream at night I can only see your face_

He had always been a workaholic and it had never been a problem. He simply worked himself to the point of exhaustion and then fell into a peaceful and recuperative sleep. But when he had returned to England he had forced himself to become an insomniac. It wasn't that he didn't like sleep, or that he was depressed and lost now that they had finally put his twin to rest. No, it was because of his petite little assistant. It seemed that whenever he closed his eyes and tried to sleep all that happened was his mind would be filled with thoughts, worries and fears about her. Or when he became even more sleep deprived, strange dreams of just being near her, spending time with her.

_I look around but it's you I can't replace_

He had tried so hard to throw himself even further into his work, to force himself to focus on something, _anything_, other than her. It had no effect whatsoever. In fact it got so bad that his mother and father had actually confronted him about it. And well… Needless to say he had ended up on a plane to Japan a short time later.

_I feel so cold and I long for your embrace_

He found it strange now that he looked back on it. His parents had been so opposed to him coming to Japan in the first place. Then after he spent a few months back with them they shipped him off again. His father making some inane comment about getting his "daughter-in-law" safely back under the watch of his son. It didn't make much sense to him until he learned from Lin that his mother had apparently walked into his office to find him sleeping one time. She had heard him mutter his assistant's name and clearly made an assumption about their relationship. Never mind the fact that he had had a few dreams where he and the young brunette were embracing. Being the scholarly young man that he was he had looked up what such a thing would mean in a dream. Really, his parents were being so overly dramatic. It just meant that he was connecting with her, you know, sharing the same ideas and principles. Nothing more.

_I keep crying baby, baby please_

It had been extremely easy to find her once he returned and she quickly agreed-without him needing to use the threats or blackmail he had prepared-to return to work for him. Since then everything had returned to the relative normal that could be expected from SPR, his shouts for tea hourly, Lin's quiet typing and Mai's angry huffing and obnoxious music. Though it didn't escape his notice that he seemed to crave tea even more whenever she happened to be on the phone, talking to potential suitors, or even joking with Yasuhara. Of course it was just his subtle way of reminding her that she was at work, and not a social networking site.

_Every move you make_

_Every vow you break_

_Every smile you fake_

_Every claim you stake_

He paused in his musing as the chorus started up again, his eyes widening and his shaky hands losing their grip on the-thankfully-empty teacup, letting it fall with a loud clatter to his desk. Dear lord… How could he have not seen it sooner? Mai was… He was…

_I'll be watching you_

He was practically stalking Mai! Always watching her, always saving her and thinking of her. He groaned and let his head fall into his hands as the door to his office was thrust open and against the wall.

"Naru-chan? Are you okay?"

The little assistant that he had grown so attached to over the time he had known her was instantly at his desk, watching him with growing worry as he failed to respond to her. "Naru-chan? Naru! I'll go get Lin-san!"

Just as she moved to dash out of his office and to his silent assistant his hand snaked out and wrapped around her tiny wrist. "Mai…" His voice came out strangled, uneven and hoarse even to his own ears.

"Naru-chan? Are you okay? What do you need?"

He slowly lifted his midnight blue eyes up to her own cinnamon ones, his face set into a grim expression. "Change the song. Now. And I never want to hear you play this one again. Understood?"

The brunette nodded slowly, looking extremely confused as she reached out to feel his flushed forehead. "Naru… Are you sure you're well? Maybe I should get Lin-san just in case…?"

"Just change the song. Please."

Mai gasped as she stared at him. Something serious had to be wrong with him! He never said please! But if that was all he was asking she would do so immediately, even if she did enjoy the song so much.

"Of course Naru!" She dashed out to the main office to do so, quickly slipping another cd into the player.

Naru sighed as he heard the sound of big band swing fill his office. Relief at last… Now all he needed was, "Mai! Tea!"

She immediately swept into his office to gather up his cup before returning to the kitchen. It wasn't long before he heard the kettle whistling his favorite tune.

Mere moments later she was back at his side, setting his fresh cup of heavenly brew before him. "I think you'll like this song a lot better Naru-chan! It's so much more upbeat! Yasu-kun showed it to me one day when I wasn't feeling so great."

Naru grunted softly, not truly paying attention as he lifted his cup to sip from, sighing in relief as his assistant prattled on about the band.

"They're called Cherry Poppin' Daddies, which is a really weird name. English doesn't make much sense no matter how hard I try. But what I really want to know is why would someone want their 'jellies rolled'?"

Naru choked on his tea, coughing and spluttering in a rather undignified-and un-Naru-way. "What?"

"It's what the song says!" And his pretty little assistant only made it worse, her lips turning into a full blown pout as she began to sing, "I was nice and you were cold/You were bored when I was bold/I just want my jellies rolled/When I change your mind. See? What does it mean?"

Naru's eyes narrowed as his hand tightened reflexively about the porcelain teacup, very close to cracking his prized possession. What did it mean? It meant that he was going to kill Yasuhara. Slowly and painfully.

"Mai. Out. Now. And no more music! Especially not songs that Yasuhara suggests!" He would definitely make sure that order was followed, even if he had to stop the two from conversing.

_I'll be watching you_

**Author's Notes: **Jeezie Creezie… This turned out so much longer than expected. Naru can really get talkative when he wants to. And seriously the poor boy needs a hug, especially when he has a Yasuhara-kun intentionally making trouble for him. And I had a lot of fun with this one as well. Especially Naru's sudden realization. And of course Yasu's trouble making. Anyway, let me know what you think of this one!

And like I said earlier, I don't own anything. Not Ghost Hunt, not Sting's musical genius, nor Cherry Poppin' Daddies' 'When I Change Your Mind'.

**Started: **11/22/2010 at 8:48 PM

**Finished: **11/22/2010 at 11:17 PM

**Edited 1****st****: **11/23/2010 at 12: 41 AM

**Edited 2****nd****: **11/25/2010 at 11:26 AM

~10~


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